sleeper neighborhoods with good schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not the PP, but I also recommend the Dunn Loring Woods area near Dunn Loring Merrifield. It's technically Vienna, but it's closer to Falls Church. Houses aren't anything special (mid-50s ramblers and colonials) but a lot have been updated and well-maintained. At $630, you could get one of the nicer ones (prob 2000 sqft including basement) with a good yard. Lots of young families moving in due to easy access to metro, major roads, and burgeoning commerce. Schools are good and zoned for Marshall HS.

Look for Vienna Woods and you can get Madison instead.

Not much of a difference between marshall, in fact Madison has less offerings like no STEM school and is old.

Big difference in terms of overall reputation and community support. Music and sports at Madison are also better. Madison doesn't need a STEM academy because it already has so many AP courses.

Opinions are cool

Being #3 is better than #16. You can find something for 650K in the Madison district, so why not try?

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/rankings?int=c0b4c1

If school rankings (which are of course partially misleading) is not the number one criterion there are several reasons ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not the PP, but I also recommend the Dunn Loring Woods area near Dunn Loring Merrifield. It's technically Vienna, but it's closer to Falls Church. Houses aren't anything special (mid-50s ramblers and colonials) but a lot have been updated and well-maintained. At $630, you could get one of the nicer ones (prob 2000 sqft including basement) with a good yard. Lots of young families moving in due to easy access to metro, major roads, and burgeoning commerce. Schools are good and zoned for Marshall HS.

Look for Vienna Woods and you can get Madison instead.

Not much of a difference between marshall, in fact Madison has less offerings like no STEM school and is old.

Big difference in terms of overall reputation and community support. Music and sports at Madison are also better. Madison doesn't need a STEM academy because it already has so many AP courses.

Opinions are cool

Being #3 is better than #16. You can find something for 650K in the Madison district, so why not try?

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/rankings?int=c0b4c1

You are going to love 66 and maple ave traffic, I guarantee it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not the PP, but I also recommend the Dunn Loring Woods area near Dunn Loring Merrifield. It's technically Vienna, but it's closer to Falls Church. Houses aren't anything special (mid-50s ramblers and colonials) but a lot have been updated and well-maintained. At $630, you could get one of the nicer ones (prob 2000 sqft including basement) with a good yard. Lots of young families moving in due to easy access to metro, major roads, and burgeoning commerce. Schools are good and zoned for Marshall HS.

Look for Vienna Woods and you can get Madison instead.

Not much of a difference between marshall, in fact Madison has less offerings like no STEM school and is old.

Big difference in terms of overall reputation and community support. Music and sports at Madison are also better. Madison doesn't need a STEM academy because it already has so many AP courses.

Opinions are cool

Being #3 is better than #16. You can find something for 650K in the Madison district, so why not try?

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/rankings?int=c0b4c1

You are going to love 66 and maple ave traffic, I guarantee it.

Weak. Even putting aside the better schools, there are alternatives to 66, and Maple Avenue and Church Street have much more to offer than Idylwood Plaza.

[Anonymous]

I can't comment on the Madison/Marshall debate since I don't have HS age kids ... though as a 22180 resident I've heard every permutation of the argument imaginable ... and they seem pretty close to me. But I would note that b/c 22182 has higher end homes (plenty of $1mm+) and more consistent neighborhoods, you're going to get a lot more for $630k in 22180 than in 22182. $630k is bottom of the stack in 22182 but can you something pretty updated in 22180. In addition, 22180 is appreciating much more rapidly with the Mosaic District, Lee Hwy, and DL Metro (Idylwood Plaza, who cares?) development and it wouldn't surprise me if median home values converge toward 22180 over the next 10 years because the area is definitely more convenient to DC. Not trying to encourage more bickering, but 22182 is easily 15 mins worse of a commute in rush hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pimmit Hills but you need to get them quick

Oh brother, not this again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the neighborhoods south of Old Town, just west of Telegraph Rd.? Some very pretty streets, and a very good elementary school on Franconia Road, and it's an easy 10 minute drive to Old Town. We don't live there, but our friend who do moved there for the reasons you are asking about. Nice big parks around there, too.

West of Telegraph? No thanks.

Isn't that the Rose Hill area? Yeah, definitely no thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't comment on the Madison/Marshall debate since I don't have HS age kids ... though as a 22180 resident I've heard every permutation of the argument imaginable ... and they seem pretty close to me. But I would note that b/c 22182 has higher end homes (plenty of $1mm+) and more consistent neighborhoods, you're going to get a lot more for $630k in 22180 than in 22182. $630k is bottom of the stack in 22182 but can you something pretty updated in 22180. In addition, 22180 is appreciating much more rapidly with the Mosaic District, Lee Hwy, and DL Metro (Idylwood Plaza, who cares?) development and it wouldn't surprise me if median home values converge toward 22180 over the next 10 years because the area is definitely more convenient to DC. Not trying to encourage more bickering, but 22182 is easily 15 mins worse of a commute in rush hour.

22182 is more expensive and closer in, not sure why it works be a worse commute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't comment on the Madison/Marshall debate since I don't have HS age kids ... though as a 22180 resident I've heard every permutation of the argument imaginable ... and they seem pretty close to me. But I would note that b/c 22182 has higher end homes (plenty of $1mm+) and more consistent neighborhoods, you're going to get a lot more for $630k in 22180 than in 22182. $630k is bottom of the stack in 22182 but can you something pretty updated in 22180. In addition, 22180 is appreciating much more rapidly with the Mosaic District, Lee Hwy, and DL Metro (Idylwood Plaza, who cares?) development and it wouldn't surprise me if median home values converge toward 22180 over the next 10 years because the area is definitely more convenient to DC. Not trying to encourage more bickering, but 22182 is easily 15 mins worse of a commute in rush hour.

22182 is more expensive and closer in, not sure why it works be a worse commute.[

Relative to Dunn Loring Woods 22182 is a harder commute, but you're correct that some parts of 22182 and 22180 are comparable for commute times to DC. Bigger point is if OP has $630K it will go a lot farther in DL area than Town of Vienna today. 5 years from now, maybe not.

[Anonymous]

You can ABSOLUTELY find a SFH in that price zone in the Robinson and Lake Braddock pyramids. Try 22015 and 22032. There is a VRE stop in Burke.

[Anonymous]

I am the poster who suggested south of Alexandria, by Telegraph. Was thinking of Wilton Wood and Virginia Hills. Nice "pockets" as the poster was asking for.

[Anonymous]

West Springfield will be a great investment if it does what similarly located neighborhoods did when FFX town center opened. Super close without getting caught in all of the mess. Look for the Cardinal Forest/Irving/West Springfield pyramid. We are thrilled with it - and WSHS is getting a brand new building in 2017.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are there any 630,000-and-below SFH neighborhoods in Northern Virginia zoned for a good elementary school? Or is this the rainbow-patterned unicorn that we speak of often? Any little "pockets" we could check out? I realize this may not be a realistic request, so thanks for your ideas.

Try some of the neighborhoods with a Herndon/Oak Hill address like Franklin Farm or Fox Mill

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can ABSOLUTELY find a SFH in that price zone in the Robinson and Lake Braddock pyramids. Try 22015 and 22032. There is a VRE stop in Burke.

Agree with this poster. Our home search was based on neighborhoods in 22032, 22003 (outside the beltway feeding to Woodson), 22152, and 22015. We are very happy with our SFH purchase in 22032. I wanted to be in close proximity to VRE, else would have otherwise included 22030 in our target area. This may or may not be a downside for you, but one think about the Burke Center enclave of neighborhoods is their HOA. (There are many neighborhoods in 22015 that are not Burke Center, FYI.). Just something to consider if that matters to you; I have heard that HOA is rather heavy handed, but maybe someone can speak to that more.

I think all the elementary schools in the aforementioned zip codes are regarded well, as are the high schools.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't comment on the Madison/Marshall debate since I don't have HS age kids ... though as a 22180 resident I've heard every permutation of the argument imaginable ... and they seem pretty close to me. But I would note that b/c 22182 has higher end homes (plenty of $1mm+) and more consistent neighborhoods, you're going to get a lot more for $630k in 22180 than in 22182. $630k is bottom of the stack in 22182 but can you something pretty updated in 22180. In addition, 22180 is appreciating much more rapidly with the Mosaic District, Lee Hwy, and DL Metro (Idylwood Plaza, who cares?) development and it wouldn't surprise me if median home values converge toward 22180 over the next 10 years because the area is definitely more convenient to DC. Not trying to encourage more bickering, but 22182 is easily 15 mins worse of a commute in rush hour.

22182 is more expensive and closer in, not sure why it works be a worse commute.[

Relative to Dunn Loring Woods 22182 is a harder commute, but you're correct that some parts of 22182 and 22180 are comparable for commute times to DC. Bigger point is if OP has $630K it will go a lot farther in DL area than Town of Vienna today. 5 years from now, maybe not.

22182 is a weird zip code. There are parts of it that are much closer to Mosaic and Gallows than 22180. Best not rely on zips, go by neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cardinal Forest, West Springfield, and Keene Mill are all great elementaries. I like CF and KM better than WS because I much prefer WSHS over Lee. Irving is a great middle, which you probably know is hard to find.

Most of West Springfield Elementary is zoned for West Springfield High School.

It is only the Daventry houses and town houses that go out of pyramid to Lee HS.